Garment hanger



1, 1967 1.. J. HELMER ETAL 3,333,711

GARMENT HANGER Filed Oct. 18, 1965 INVENTORS. LEO 1]." HELME/E MAR IE 4. 1162 M52 United States Patent 3,333,711 GARMENT HANGER Leo J. l-lelrner and Marie G. Helmer, both of 6837 Rugby Ava, Huntington Park, Calif. 90255 Filed Oct. 18, 1965, Ser. No. 497,017 Claims. (Cl. 211-96) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The specification discloses a garment hanger comprising a base member of rigid thin-sheet material provided with attachment means for attaching said base member to an auxiliary vertical supporting member such as a vertical wall, or the like, and with said base member being provided with a plurality of pivotal mounting means in laterally spaced relationship therealong, with each of said pivotal mounting means being provided with corresponding outwardly projecting resilient frictional garment-engaging means comprising a pair of longitudinal garmentengaging members laterally adjacent to each other and effectively resiliently interconnected for forcible lateral separation thereof to allow the insertion of a fabric portion of a garment therebetween and adapted to subsequently resiliently engage opposite surfaces of the fabric portion of the garment therebetween for positively holding and supporting the garment until said engaging members are disengaged from the garment by forcible manual removal of the garment from said supported relationship. Each of the garment-engaging means is disclosed in a preferred form of the invention as being made of a single strip of rigid, but resiliently defiectable, thin-sheet material doubled over into laterally adjacent relationship whereby to form and comprise said pair of garmentengaging members, and having an interconnecting integral portion at the rear thereof provided with and carrying vertically directed effective pivot pin means comprising one portion of the above-mentioned pivotal mounting means, the other portion of which comprises projection means integral with and formed from the rigid thin-sheet material of the base member and provided with vertically aligned apertures therethrough for receiving said effective pivot pin means.

Generally speaking, the present invention relates to a garment hanger and, more particularly, to a novel garment hanger adapted to be positioned on an auxiliary vertical supporting member, such as a closet wall, the inside of a closet door, or the like, and to support one or more garments, such as trousers, dresses, or the like, in depending relationship and to do so in a very spacesaving and compact manner which allows a number of such garments to be supported in a relatively small space volume.

Furthermore, when garments are not being supported, the novel garment hanger of the present invention may be effectively collapsed toward the auxiliary supporting wall so as to occupy an absolute minimum of space. The device may even be partially so collapsed toward the auxiliary supporting wall while supporting a few garmentsthe degree of such collapsing movement being determined by the number of such garments su ported by the device.

In other words, the garment hanger of the present invention comprises an unobtrusive small-space-volume attachment device which can be mounted in any convenient location and, when not in use, occupies a very small space volume and which can be swung out into a position for ready supporting engagement with respect to one or more pairs of trousers, one or more skirts, or the 3,333,711 Patented Aug. 1, 1967 like, and in certain cases, can then be swung partially back toward the wall for occupying a minimum space volume while supporting the garments until they are to be subsequently removed, at which time the device can be swung out from the wall so as to facilitate the easy removal of one or more of said garments.

With the above points in mind, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved garment hanger for one or more garments which is of the character referred to herein, and which has any or all of the advantages referred to herein, and which includes any or all of the features referred to herein generically and/0r specifically and individually or in combination and which is of extremely simple, inexpensive construction adapted for ready mass manufacture at relatively low cost whereby to be conducive to widespread use thereof.

Further objects are implicit in the detailed description which follows hereinafter (which is to he considered as exemplary of, but not specifically limiting, the present invention), and said objects will be apparent to persons skilled in the art after a careful study of the detailed description which follows hereinafter.

For the purpose of clarifying the nature of the present invention, several exemplary embodiments of the invention are illustrated in the hereinbelow-described figures of the accompanying single drawing sheet and are described in detail hereinafter.

FIG. 1 is a greatly-reduced-size, three-dimensional, perspective view illustrating one exemplary embodiment of the invention in mounted relationship with respect to an auxiliary vertical supporting member, such as a wall surface, door surface, or the like, and in operative relationship with respect to a garment comprising a pair of pants in the example illustrated and shown as being supported by the apparatus.

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary, three-dimensional, perspective view of the left end of the apparatus of FIG. 1 drawn to a considerably larger scale in order to clarify the detailed structure thereof.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary staggered plane section taken substantially along the staggered plane indicated by the arrows 33 of FIG. 2 and is drawn to a larger scale than FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken substantially along the plane indicated by the arrows 4-4 of FIG. 2 and drawn to the same scale as FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view similar to FIG. 4 but illustrating a slightly modified form of the frictional antislip means of the FIG. 4 form of the invention.

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary sectional view taken substantially along the plane indicated by the arrows 6-6 of FIG. 3.

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary three-dimensional perspective view similar to FIG. 2 but illustrating a modified form of the invention including a modified type of pivotal mounting means.

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary sectional view taken substantially along the plane indicated by the arrows 8-8 of FIG. 7.

FIG. 9 is a fragmentary sectional view taken substantially along the plane indicated by the arrows 99 of FIG. 8.

The exemplary first form of the invention illustrated in FIGS. 1-4 and 6 comprises a base member, generally designated at 10, which is shown as being made of thinsheet material having rearwardly offset edges 12 for the purpose of providing rigidity to the complete base means 10 and which is provided with attachment means for attaching the entire base means to an auxiliary vertical supporting member. In the example illustrated, such an auxiliary vertical supporting member is fragmentarily illustrated at 14 and may comprise a closet wall, door,

or any other convenient structural location, and the attachment means referred to above is generally designated at 16 and comprises a plurality of holes 18 adapted to receive screws 20 therethrough for attachment to the auxiliary vertical supporting member or wall 14.

The base member 16 is provided with at least one (in the example illustrated, a plurality of) pivotal mounting means, such as generally designated at 22, in laterally spaced relationship along the base member 10 and with each of said pivotal mounting means 22 being provided with a corresponding outwardly projecting resilient frictional garment-engaging means generally designated at 24 and in, each case, comprising a pair of longitudinal garment-engaging members 26 laterally adjacent to each other and effectively resiliently interconnected by the rear end connection portions 28 whereby to provide an arrangement such as to require forcible lateral separation of said garment-engaging members 26 in order to allow the insertion therebetween of a fabric portion 30 of a garment such as generally designated at 32, after which said garment engaging members 26 resiliently and frictionally engage opposite surfaces of said fabric portion 30 of said garment therebetween for positively holding and supporting the garment 32 until said garment-engaging members 26 are forcibly separated for removal of the garment 32 from said supported relationship or until the garment 32 1s forcibly pulled out of supported engagement with the garment-engaging members 26.

Incidentally, in connection with the above, it should be noted that the expressions forcible lateral separation and forcibly separated are intended to be broadly construed and do not mean necessarily that one must separate the two garment-engaging means 26 with his fingers. actually said expressions, and similar expressions, are intended to have a broad meaning and to cover any manually initiated action which brings effectively about such action. For example, it may mean (and, in fact, in a preferred mode of operation of the apparatus, does mean) that the side edge of the garment, such as either pair of ad acent creased edges of the pair of trousers 32 may be merely laterally pulled into the space defined between any pair of the garment-engaging members 26 and the garment removal operation may comprise just the reverse of this operation-the lateral pulling of the garment out of the space or slot defined between any adjacent pair of the garment-engaging members 26. This mode of operation 1s facilitated by the outwardly turned end portions 34 carried at the outer ends of each pair of garmentengaglng members 26.

The inner surface of at least one of each pair of the garment-engaging members 26 may be provided with fr ctional or anti-slip means for preventing inadvertent slippage of the fabric portions 30 of the garment 32 when supported between said pair of garment-engaging members 26. One exemplary type of such a frictional ant1-slip means is indicated at 36 and comprises longitud1na1 horizontally directed inwardly projecting rib means as best shown in FIG. 4. However, an alternate arrangement is shown fragmentarily in FIG. 5, wherein said frictional anti-slip means is of a modified type, as designated at 36a, and comprises a compressible elastomeric pad means (actually coated on the garment-engaging members 26a in FIG. which might 'be made of any suitable material such as foam material, sponge material, or other compressible material having an effective high coefiicient of friction and adapted to provide a firm engagement with a fabric portion of the garment such as the fabric portion 30 of the garment 32 illustrated inconnection with the first form of the invention.

It should be noted that, in the FIG. 5 modification of the invention, portions of the apparatus structurally or functionally similar to the first form of the invention illustrated in FIGS. I4 and 6 are designated by similar reference numerals, followed by the letter a, however.

In connection with both the frictional anti-slip means shown at 36 in FIG. 4 and the modified form thereof shown at 360 in FIG. 5, it should he noted that the inner surface of both of each opposed pair of garment-engaging members 26 (or 26a) may be provided with such frictional anti-slip means, if desired.

In the exemplary first form of the invention illustrated, the hereinbefore-mentioned pivotal mounting means 22 takes one exemplary, but non-specifically-limiting, form wherein projection tab means, comprising in each case an upper projection tab 38 and a lower projection tab 38 vertically spaced apart, are integral with the base member 10 and are formed or struck out of the thin-sheet metallic material of said base member 10 and, at the same time, the apertures 49 are pierced in the projection tabs 38 so that, after they are formed in the struck-out substantially parallel relationship best illustrated in FIG. 3, said aperf tures 40 are vertically aligned and are adapted to receive downwardly therethrough effective pivot pin means 42 which, in each case, is merely a headed vertical pin positioned within the interconnecting integral rear portion 28 at the back end of each of the engaging means 24. Said pivot pin may merely be rotatively freely retained or frictionally retained in said back end 28 or may be affixed thereto in any suitable manner and, when mounted in the vertically aligned apertures 40, the entire structure just described effectively comprises the previously genericallyreferred-to pivotal mounting means 22.

FIGS. 7-9 illustrate a slight modification of the pivotal mounting means and, in this modification, said pivotal mounting means is designated by the reference numeral 22b and comprises an outwardly formed projection portion 38b integral with and formed out of the thin-sheet material of the base means 10b and provided with vertically aligned apertures 40b therethrough for receiving the rear portion 42bR of the modified pivot pin 42b, which has a front portion 42bF engaging the rear portion 28b of the corresponding engaging means 24b in a manner similar to that of the first form of the invention as best shown in FIG. 3. It will be noted that the major difference in this modification is that the rear pivot pin portion 42bR can be merely slidably moved directly downwardly through the aligned apertures 40b for mounting the corresponding engaging means 24b, and the removal operation is the reverse of that just described. This is somewhat different from the first form of the invention wherein a single vertical pivot pin 42 has to be positioned through and between the projection tab means 38 in a slightly different manner not susceptible to just being directly vertically lifted out of such engagement by merely lifting the corresponding engaging means 24.

It should be noted that this modification of the invention is shown as having frictional anti-slip means 36b of substantially the same type as that illustrated at 36a in the FIG. 5 form of the invention. However, said frictional anti-slip means might be of the type shown at 36 in the first form of the invention illustrated in FIGS. l-4 and 6 or any other substantial functional equivalent thereof, if desired. 1

In the modification of the invention illustrated in FIGS. 79, portions of the apparatus structurally or functionally similar to the first form of the invention illustrated in FIGS. l4 and 6 are designated by similar reference numerals, followed by the letter [2, however.

Any of the several versions of the invention may be modified to include individual features of the other versions and various modifications within the scope and broad teachings of the present invention and effectively comprising functional equivalents of the several forms of the invention illustrated are intended to be included and comprehended.

It should be understood that the figures and the specific description thereof set forth in this application are for the purpose of illustrating the present invention and are not to be construed as limiting the present invention to the precise and detailed specific structure shown in the figures and specifically described hereinbefore. Rather, the real invention is intended to include substantially equivalent constructions embodying the basic teachings and inventive concept of the present invention.

We claim:

1. A garment hanger comprising: a base member of rigid thin-sheet material provided with attachment means for attaching said base member to an auxiliary vertical supporting member, said base member being provided with a plurality of pivotal mounting means in laterally spaced relationship therealong, with each of said pivotal mounting means being provided with a corresponding out- Wardly projecting resilient frictional garment-engaging means comprising a pair of longitudinal garment-engaging members laterally adjacent to each other and effectively resiliently interconnected for forcible lateral separation thereof to allow the insertion of a fabric portion of a garment therebetween and adapted to subsequently resiliently engage opposite surfaces of the fabric portion of the garment therebetween for positively holding and supporting same until said engaging members are disengaged from the garment by forcible manual removal of the garment from said supported relationship, each of said garment-engaging means being made of a single strip of rigid thin-sheet material doubled over into laterally adjacent relationship and forming and comprising said pair of garment-engaging members, and having an interconnecting integral portion at the rear thereof provided with and carrying vertically directed effective pivot pin means comprising one portion of said pivotal mounting means, the other portion of which comprises projection means integral with and formed from the rigid thin-sheet material of said base member and provided with vertically aligned apertures therethrough for receiving said effective pivot pin means.

2. A garment hanger as defined in claim 1, wherein at least one of said garment-engaging members of said garment-engaging means is provided on an inner surface thereof with effectively frictional anti-slip means for preventing inadvertent slippage of the fabric of a garment supported by said garment-engaging means.

3. A garment hanger as defined in claim 1, wherein at least one of said garment-engaging members of each of said garment-engaging means is provided on an inner surface thereof with effectively compressible frictional anti-slip means for preventing inadvertent slippage of the fabric of a garment supported by said garment-engaging means.

4. A garment hanger as defined in claim 1, wherein at least one of said garment-engaging members of said garment-engaging means is provided on an inner surface thereof with effectively frictional anti-slip means for preventing inadvertent slippage of the fabric of a garment supported by said garment-engaging means, said effectively frictional anti-slip means comprising longitudinally horizontally directed inwardly projecting rib means.

5. A garment hanger as defined in claim 1, wherein at least one of said garment-engaging members of each of said garment-engaging means is provided on an inner surface thereof with effectively compressible frictional antislip means for preventing inadvertent slippage of the fabric of a garment supported by said garment-engaging means, said effectively compressible frictional anti-slip means comprising compressible inner pad means of elastomeric material.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,097,755 5/ 1914 Goldsmith 211-96 X 1,513,936 12/1924 Lachenm'aier 2l17 2,075,279 3/1937 Good 211-96 X 2,409,152 10/1946 Rundell 21'196 X 2,431,976 12/1947 Ajax 21196 2,540,546 2/ 1951 P-utz 248-'316.3 2,684,226 7/ 1954 Sundell 248294 2,797,817 7/1957 Shugarman 211-96 2,825,468 3/ 1958 Watkins 21 189 CHANCELLOR E. HARRIS, Primary Examiner. 

1. A GARMENT HANGER COMPRISING: A BASE MEMBER OF RIGID THIN-SHEET MATERIAL PROVIDED WITH ATTACHMENT MEANS FOR ATTACHING SAID BASE MEMBER TO AN AUXILIARY VERTICAL SUPPORTING MEMBER, SAID BASE MEMBER BEING PROVIDED WITH A PLURALITY OF PIVOTAL MOUNTING MEANS IN LATERALLY SPACED RELATIONSHIP THEREALONG, WITH EACH OF SAID PIVOTAL MOUNTING MEANS BEING PROVIDED WITH A CORRESPONDING OUTWARDLY PROJECTING RESILIENT FRICTIONAL GARMENT-ENGAGING MEANS COMPRISING A PAIR OF LONGITUDINAL GARMENT-ENGAGING MEMBERS LATERALLY ADJACENT TO EACH OTHER AND EFFECTIVELY RESILIENTLY INTERCONNECTED FOR FORCIBLE LATERAL SEPARATION THEREOF TO ALLOW THE INSERTION OF A FABRIC PORTION OF A GARMENT THEREBETWEEN AND ADAPTED TO SUBSEQUENTLY RESILIENCY ENGAGE OPPOSITE SURFACES OF THE FABRIC PORTION OF THE GARMENT THEREBETWEEN FOR POSITIVELY HOLDING AND SUPPORTING SAME UNTIL SAID ENGAGING MEMBERS ARE DISENGAGED FROM THE GARMENT BY FORCIBLE MANUAL REMOVAL OF THE GARMENT FROM SAID SUPPORTED RELATIONSHIP, EACH OF 